Gendered citizenship: understanding gendered violence in democratic India

It has been shown time and again that even though all citizens may be accorded equal standing in the constitution of a liberal democracy, such a legal provision hardly guarantees state protections against discrimination and political exclusion. More specifically, why do we find pervasive gender-based discrimination, exclusion, and violence in India when the Indian Constitution supports an inclusive democracy committed to gender and caste equality?

Natasha Behl uses ethnographic data from the Sikh community in India to upend longstanding assumptions about democracy, citizenship, religion, and gender. This book reveals that religious spaces can be sites for renegotiating democratic participation, and uncovers how some women engage in religious community in unexpected ways to link gender equality and religious freedom as shared goals. Gendered Citizenship is a groundbreaking inquiry that explains why the promise of democratic equality remains unrealized and identifies ways to create more egalitarian relations.